Alexandre Pantoja vs. Brandon Royval II – Preview and Prediction
Alexandre Pantoja will make his first UFC flyweight title defense at UFC 296 when he rematches Brandon Royval in the co-main event.
Their first meeting took place in 2021 and Pantoja was able to smoother Royval and take the fight to canvas where he got a second round submission win.
Now the two meet again at UFC 296 and here’s a preview and prediction for their rematch. The full breakdown can also be seen in the video above.
Breakdown
Pantoja is coming off the biggest win of his career as he beat Brandon Monero for the UFC flyweight title.
He has been great in his UFC tenure has he’s posted 10-3 record and he’s coming off four straight wins.
Meanwhile, Royval is fun fighter and he uses his length to be very flashy on the feet. While his striking is very talented, he also can stop fights on the ground has he has three UFC finishes by submission.
This is also a meeting between two great gyms as Pantoja trains out of American Top Team and Royval trains out of Factory X.
Tale of the Tape
Royval will have a big height advantage as he is four inches taller than Pantoja.
Despite being shorter, Pantoja only lacks an inch in reach and two inches in leg reach.
Oddsmakers
They have this as a close fight, but they are giving the slight nod to Pantoja. The money line appears to shifting more towards Pantoja as the UFC 296 fight week goes on.
Prediction
Can Royval keep this one standing is the question.
If Pantoja can smoother Royval and take him down like he did in the first fight, then we’ll be saying “And Still.”
Royval has the skills to knock Pantoja around on the feet and finish things off on both the feet and ground.
Fun match up. If we see all of that mixed in throughout the feet we might have a fight of the night on our hands.
Why this fight has the makings of a great one, its hard to bet against the champ here, especially considering he already holds a win over the challenger.
Prediction: Alexandre Pantoja defeats Brandon Royval at UFC 296
